Ranchers push for grazing on hunting grounds

Battered by drought, Minnesota cattle farmers and ranchers are pushing for state conservation lands and public hunting grounds to be opened up for haying and grazing.

The state Department of Natural Resources is hesitant to do that, setting a scene for a possible showdown involving land managers, conservationists, hunting groups and farmers and ranchers.

With 50 percent of Minnesota in the midst of a drought that is battering much of the upper Midwest, farming interests in the past several days have raised the call to open up state-owned Wildlife Management Areas, as well as properties receiving state funds through Reinvest in Minnesota.

On Monday, July 23, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack opened some Conservation Reserve Program land to haying and grazing. Owners of CRP lands receive federal payments to not farm the land to reduce erosion and encourage wildlife and natural habitats. The move, which also reduces penalties for using the land for agriculture, will allow grazing and haying after Aug. 1, the traditional end of the nesting season for pheasants, waterfowl and other birds of the prairies.

The same day, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker opened up about 11,000 acres of state-owned land in Wisconsin.

Minnesota farmers want some of that.

"We've got enough grass in this state to keep all the cow-calf pairs in decent shape, but we don't have access to all that grass," said Kevin Paap, president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau, which was among a number of agriculture groups that made their case to state agriculture officials in a meeting the day after Vilsack's announcement.

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"Let us use that land."

Not so fast, says Ed Boggess, the DNR's fish and wildlife director. No one from his division was at the meeting, which was convened by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

The DNR actually is encouraging grazing on its lands, as a way to raise revenue and to improve habitat. Grazing cattle can do some of the natural tasks that bison and wildfires once did to keep grasslands healthy and prevent them from becoming forests.

But the DNR is embracing grazing slowly, demanding plans to protect wild game and hunting opportunities and to avoid overgrazing.

"We're pretty actively engaged in trying to increase grazing on our lands," Boggess said. "That being said, we would not open them up just because of a drought emergency. It needs to be part of a grazing plan."

That doesn't sit well with Paap. "Frustration is how I respond to that," he said. "Those are all important and worthy causes. Farmers and ranchers are sportsmen and conservationists, as well, but we need to understand that every day we go without rain, we need that grass more. While we're waiting for the bureaucrats to make a decision, that land is losing value."

By "value," Paap explained, he meant healthy grass that cows and calves need right now -- but it is in dwindling supply.

The political winds aren't entirely clear on this, but it appears ranchers have an ally in state agriculture commissioner Dave Fredrickson.

"I'm hoping reasonable people can come to agreement," Fredrickson said. "There has to be some conditions where ranchers have the opportunity to hay and graze RIM lands, and reasonable people can agree how that can be done responsibly."

He declined to comment on WMAs without DNR input.

State Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, said state lands shouldn't be opened in the manner the ranchers want.

"I'm not comfortable with the precedent of opening up public lands for private purpose like this," said Hansen, who sits on the House committees for environment and agriculture and owns CRP land. "People are sympathetic to the plight of the farmers, but would we allow corporations to use these lands if their profits were down?"